Kris Valentine

The Great Illinois Corn Flake

by Kris Valentine,posted Jan 3 2009 4:08PM

Here is an update regarding the Illinois shaped corn flake being auctioned on eBay by a couple of teenagers from Virginia. At one point the bidding had reached as high as $250,000, but then the listing was suddenly removed. Turns out the sisters received an e-mail from eBay saying the state-shaped cereal was in violation of the site's food policy. But the girls have found a loophole and the corn flake is back. They've relisted the flake on eBay, but this time they're auctioning a coupon redeemable for it, instead of the cereal itself. The coupon specifically says that the corn flake is not edible which was eBay's main concern. The corn flake auction ended on March 21st and sold for $1,350!

Of course we are now seeing copycat items popping up on the web site as well, including corn flakes shaped like Hawaii, Virginia and yes South Africa. There's also been a potato chip shaped like Florida, and Illinois corn flake paraphernalia, including T-shirts and buttons. What's next?